Crafting in General - OMG Fix It

[Dragonhaven]

I agree with the OP, I came back to the game friday after a three week break. I made the mistake of trying to level my crafting this morning. 1st synth I started out ok.... then out of nowhere I got an unstable lightning ele on a white orb fail.. after the ele stablizes it takes away 30 quality and 30 durability. Swallowing that humble pie (thank you SE again for making this game not fun). I started the next synth and got an unstable earth ele right off the bat. Im r26 armorer doing a lvl 20 leve whos synth lvl is 21 I have the training for the item and a masters forge.. I guess ill stop crafting till the devs start remake the crap sandwitch that is crafting.

[Gildrein]

Greetings everyone!

Naoki Yoshida, the FINAL FANTASY XIV Producer/Director, has given an update on the future of crafting and we would like to take this moment to share it with you.

Hello everyone, this is Yoshi-P!

This is the first post on fixes to the game economy that the crafting and gathering teams are working on under the leadership of Komoto. Sorry it’s taken so long to post, and thank you all for the great feedback!
In regards to crafting, there have been a number of discussions in a number of threads, but before I actually reply to any of those individually, I’d like to first give you a summary of the current crafting system and the direction we’re taking it.
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Among all synthesis-related fixes, our top priority is revamping existing recipes. We currently see the following problems bogging down crafters:

• Too many recipes requiring too many materials
• Unbalanced rank requirements for obtaining materials and crafting items

We’re making considerable changes, all aimed at bolstering the role of Disciples of the Hand in Eorzea’s economy. Once the revised recipes are worked out, I’ll be sure to post in this thread again.
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We also plan to introduce the below adjustments to the Discipline of the Hand “character arc,” together with the recipe changes mentioned above:

• Ease of solo crafting activities up to rank 20
• More focused crafting and economic activity from rank 20 on

To start, we’ll be making progression to rank 20 for Disciples of the Hand and Land relatively easier. Beyond rank 20, we’ll have crafters participating in the market, and playing a more active role in the in-game economy.
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We are planning a number of adjustments to the stats on crafted items, aimed at the following two ends:

• Create a characteristic uniqueness for Disciples of the Hand
• Allow Disciples of the Hand to craft items in high demand

For any given rank, there are differences between the important stats on pieces of gear suited for different classes. In line with this, we will be making adjustments that let crafters tweak the stats on crafted gear to customize it for certain classes. (Of course, we’ll be balancing Discipline of War and Magic classes at the same time.)
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I mentioned this in one of my previous letters. These new concepts are not limited to simply new elements in the synthesis process, but also aim to stimulate the economy as much as possible. Through crafting, we plan to breathe new life into the game’s economy by improving gilflow and the distribution of items, and ultimately improving both the merits of, and motivations for, all classes.
Among the devs, we are tentatively calling this the Materia System, though that name may change. This new system will allow Disciples of the Hand to fuse materia to weapons and armor using special catalyst items gathered by Disciples of the Land.

• Disciples of War and Magic can customize and personalize their gear
• Disciples of the Hand can answer the materia-fusing needs of others
• Disciplies of the Land can gather catalyst items to meet the realm’s demands

I’ll be posting more details on the Materia System at a later date.
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We’ve received a lot of feedback from players regarding the crafting gauge. So we actually tested the synthesis process without a gauge, and had our quality assurance team do the same. In the end, we thought it would be fairly simple to do away with the gauge altogether. We’ll be checking this out more carefully, however, so that future additions to the system will not negatively impact gameplay. This might take some time, so I have to ask for your patience until I’m in a position to write more about the direction we decide to take.
On the other hand, we’re thinking of bringing in some low-level “instant” crafting—quick recipes players can bang out without having to invest too much time.
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Last but not least, we have the repair system. While the current repair system serves as a way for crafters to put themselves in demand, it’s also obvious that it’s not very popular among Disciples of War and Magic. But, after the release of the Materia System (see above), I think that the repair system will begin to balance itself out a bit more. It’s going to take some time before that system is ready, though, so in the meantime we’ll be reassessing the required materials for making repairs.
We’ve also received feedback on the high costs of repairing items via NPCs, but ask that you give us a little more time to keep an eye on this. Unfortunately, there aren’t many ways to take gil out of the game right now, but once we get a few more in, we’ll look at adjusting repair NPC costs.
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By ushering in all of these changes, we’ll be drawing sharp distinctions between quest rewards, loot from battle, and the fruits of gatherer and crafter labors. In addition, it will also help to create more specific demands within the game economy. As always, we’re looking forward to your continued feedback and further discussion! For now, this is just an overview, and I’ll be making more posts in individual threads later.

Thanks!

[Delmontyb]

Oh please call it the materia system.
What my hopes with this is not only would DOL get the "catalyst" materials, but DOM/DOW would seek our rare materia that would allow for all kinds of bonus to gear.

Can't wait to hear more, good stuff.

[Malakhim]

I agree. Keep the materia system name.

[viion]

Very impressive

[Zhinse]

When you mention getting rid of the minigame process and progress bar I was a little worried. Sure, the process takes a lot of time for some people, but I enjoyed it at least. I can see that as a gameplay element it just made the process of playing with luck go on for a few minutes.

If we get in trade off, a more deep crafting system with items that hold value over longer periods of time and also differ in stats from other items of the same name, then i think that will be fine. If the crafter has to look at the economic situation and access that, i think that is a more compelling gameplay element. I do believe that right now the crafters disregard making profits, but if making profits is more emphasized on the path of the crafter, things would be more fun.

[Apricoth]

Very exciting! The instability issues seem to be cropping up more than usual. I experience at least one instability during most weaving synths and at least 2 instabilities during leatherworking. I will say, I hate LW and I hate the fact that I have to rank it up to 36 to get rank 40 weaver leves done. Thank you for addressing that issue Devs.

[obaley]

+1 for Materia system.

Sounds like awesome changes. May have to start getting in on the crafting business myself.

[Karbine]

I hope this gets some views or discussion going so please reply if you are in agreement or have an opinion;

I do not wish to see the Materia System develop into the synergy system from XI or atleast the one I remember. It was overly complicated and the benefits from it were minimal at best. I can assure you that killing 5 NMs and hoping you get what you want for a stone that grants +1 point of Defense against Birds will NOT go over well. Please consider this when making it.

Other than that it sounds very cool and I am glad to see this. I am very much in favor of the outline just please please please do it right!!!

[Shorty]

I think before this crafting system will be effective and profitable for crafters, the effect of stats on gear on player performance needs to be improved. It wouldn't work well if for example, we can tailor a piece of armor to give a few extra points of +dexterity only to find out it will only give us +0.001% increase in accuracy.

And in topic with crafting, I'd like to be given a better description and/or more apparent effect on crafting stats too. Right now, it's so hard to find out what synthesis is affected by what crafting stats, and the extent to the effect (if that's even what the stats are doing at the moment).